


Vigilance

by HerPrettySmile



Category: Bleach
Genre: Childhood Friends, Developing Friendships, Drama, Drama & Romance, F/M, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Love, Male-Female Friendship, Romance, Romantic Friendship, Slow Romance, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-26
Updated: 2017-06-26
Packaged: 2018-11-19 07:36:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11308746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HerPrettySmile/pseuds/HerPrettySmile
Summary: And forever is he vigilant. — HitsuHina.





	Vigilance

**I.**

He walks calmly by the seashore. There are broken shell pieces and sharp pebbles that pierce his bare feet as he trudges the sand. The sky is almost completely covered with grey clouds, signalling the near-event of rain. He is glad, though, because he has never liked the hot sun anyway, and prefers the chilly breeze that passes by.

He stops for a moment, breathing in the fresh sea air and taking in the melancholy, beautiful view of the beach. Then, his eyes travel towards the figure who is sitting alone on the sand.

The girl looks no older than fifteen, with dark hair that is neatly tied into a bun which is covered with a light-blue cloth. Her knees are pulled up against her chest with her arms encircling them tightly as if she were cold. Her expression, however, betrays no other emotion aside from sadness as her large brown eyes survey the waters.

Quietly, he sits himself beside her, looking at her impassively. Beneath her once-lively eyes are dark, sunken circles which indicate a great lack of sleep. Her lips are also pale and some skins are peeling off. Her skin looks washed-out and a few pimples are breaking out.

But he thinks that she looks no less than the same girl he spent most of his childhood with. That she is the same girl who had once brought sunshine into his life.

Her eyes well up with unshed tears. His fists consequently clench in frustration and his expression twists into that of anguish. He cannot hear what she is thinking. She does not even talk to herself sometimes when she is alone anymore. It's like most of what he knows about her back then has now faded into a glimpse of a memory.

He cannot do anything but watch as she stands up, lets the tears fall, and goes towards the sea.

**II.**

It has been happening for almost sixteen years now. He would either sit by her side or watch from the sidelines from the moment she wakes up. Then he would gauge her mood and let his brain do the work of concocting all the possible situations or events that would happen later on.

It is all that he can do, after all. Just  _observe_.

He cannot even touch her. Nor can he speak to her. He can only watch as the girl he deeply cares about live her life.

A life without him.

It stings him everyday, like a burn you would get by scorching your skin in a fire. His heart twists painfully whenever he's with her, reminded that he and she now live in different worlds, that she is forever out of his grasp.

He is but a shadow in her life.

_Nothing more._

Sometimes he cries. But he never makes a sound. He would only hole himself up in his quarters, feeling the walls of his chest rapidly closing in and crushing his heart. He would then continue to tremble, rattled about the thought of being completely helpless.

He is a failure in being her saviour. He is nothing but  _weak_ , because he cannot even help her.

Her family abandoned her when she was a baby. He was there when it happened, and in a fit of rage, he struck at her parents, only to have his sword cutting through air as their mortal bodies become transparent during the process. Instead of becoming incredulous at himself due to the fact that he almost hurt a human, he only felt raw, undisputable fury. Without giving up, he kept trying to strike them, but all to no avail.

Panting, he kneeled to her side and tried to cradle her infant body in his arms. However, his hands passed through her like a ghost. It was then that he felt so terrible that he thought he might pass out.

" _Taichō_!" his lieutenant admonished as she watched him bury himself deeper into his paperwork later that day. "If you really want to help Hinamori, you can just go get a gigai at Urahara-san's, can't you?  _Why_  are you doing this to yourself?!"

"Sōtaichō-dono told me not to interfere in Hinamori's life." His voice was clear and steady despite the impact of his words. "Hinamori is not a shinigami anymore, Matsumoto. We have a strict rule on fraternizing with humans. We simply live in different worlds. It would break the stability we had built for ourselves."

"But what about Ichigo and his friends?! They're humans too, aren't they?!"

"Kurosaki Ichigo is an exception. He possesses powers far beyond what we have ever seen. And his friends possess reiatsu now. Hinamori, on the other hand, is a  _normal_  human. Therefore, there is no reason for us to interfere in her life."

"How can the sōtaichō be so  _cruel_?!" Rangiku became teary-eyed. "Hinamori was once a part of us! She deserves to be happy in her next life! How can we  _not_  help her?! How about we tell Ichigo about this? He has a way with words! Maybe he can convince sōtaichō—"

"Matsumoto." His tone turned icy. He had never even looked at her once. "You know as well as I do that interfering will only disrupt the balance. Hinamori has to fight her own battles. We should not do it for her. So, starting from now, Hinamori is  _never_  to be mentioned again. Do you hear me?"

Rangiku stared shell-shocked at her captain. Her mouth opened slightly as if she was preparing a retort, but no sound came out.

"I  _said_ , do you hear me, lieutenant?"

"...Yes, captain. I hear you.  _Very_  well."

The sound of the door slamming was the last thing he heard before his walls broke down.

**III.**

The waves are unforgiving. They continuously lash out at you, rendering you helpless as the force brings you down.

The storm has finally struck. He tries his best to find her in his panicked state, but his eyes cannot find her anywhere.

After a few moments, however, he finally spots her. She is thrashing about in the waters not too far away from him. Funny, a few minutes ago, she had looked ready to die.

Now, she is fighting for her life.

Looks like she isn't ready for death yet, after all.

When she had stood up, he did the same, wondering what she was going to do. But when she started walking purposefully towards the sea, it hit him instantly.

He tried to stop her. Tried to take a hold of her arms or even her whole body. But his hands only grabbed air.

He panicked as she tried to drown herself. He reached out to her multiple times even though he knew it was useless. Every time his hands passed through her body, a piece of his heart broke. The feeling was horribly agonizing and he almost shut down every time. But he shook it off and again tried frantically to save her.

Now, as he watches her slowly coming to a step towards death, ( _and even though the thought of her dying and coming back to Soul Society is granting him high hopes, he still cannot bear to watch her die, and it is not guaranteed that he will find her in Soul Society anyway_ ) he makes his decision.

 _Just once_ , he thinks as he runs out of the water and back towards the familiar neighbourhood.

 _Just this once, I will break the rules_.

**IV.**

He pants heavily, laboriously when he arrives at Urahara's place.

"Oh, Tenth Captain-san," Urahara greets. "What brings you here? Hey, you're all wet! Let me get you some towels! Tessai-san! Help me out here."

When the towels are in his hands, he immediately begins to dry the young captain. "I thought I sensed your reiatsu early in the morning," Urahara begins conversationally, "but then it was gone as quickly as it appeared—"

 _Because I masked it_ , Toushirou thinks in between pants.

_Because I do not want anyone to know other than Matsumoto that I am visiting Hinamori._

"—and then your reiatsu spiked a little earlier, but it disappeared once again before I could pinpoint the location! You really don't want anybody to know that—"

" _Give_...!" Toushirou manages to yell in his extremely exhausted state. It had been very tiring to find Hinamori in the heavy waters. "...gigai. P—Please give... me a gigai...!  _Now_!"

Urahara stares at him, confounded. "Hitsugaya-san—"

"I don't... have any more time to waste...!  _I beg of you_!" His desperation mirrors in his eyes. " _Please_!"

**V.**

She is  _dying_.

He knows it very well.

He flash-steps as fast as he can towards her location. When he arrives at the beach, no one is still there.

 _In a storm like this_ , he thinks wryly,  _no one should even be here_.

He sees her head lolling out in the waters and he runs towards her, gritting his teeth. Then, stopping just before the shore, he chants. " _Sōten ni zase_..." His eyes flicker blue. "... _Hyōrinmaru_!"

The water instantly freezes, and it gives him speed as he slides towards her, gigai in hand. Without further ado, he slips inside the vessel, and then he grabs her terrifyingly cold, still body.

( _Finally_. Finally, he holds her in his arms.)

He immediately takes her towards the shore. When he gently places her body on the sand, he quickly goes out of his gigai for a moment and then grips the handle of his sword.

" _Hyōrinmaru_ ," he whispers.

Almost immediately, the ice encasing the waters breaks into millions of tiny pieces, and then the weather clears, letting the storm have a few last drops before the clouds fade from the sky, replaced by the shy sun peeking out from a few that's left.

He stares at her lifeless body. She is not far gone yet. Her soul has not left its shell, meaning there is still life inside of her. There's still hope for her. She can still go back to her friends. To her foster family. She can even go back to her crush, to that Takumi- _something_.

Who knows if that guy even feels the same way, anyway.

But at least she will not yet be buried underground. He cannot  _stand_  imagining it. Even though she is sad with her life now due to the abuse her uncle always gives her whenever her foster parents leave her in his care for a while, she will eventually be happy. He  _knows_  it.

The flash drive is still inside the pockets of his shinigami robe. There her foster parents will see the unpleasant video he took of Hinamori and her blasted uncle hitting her over and over in places that cannot be seen visibly.

Looks like he will be breaking the rules not just once, but  _twice_ , after all.

Kurosaki Ichigo's bad habit must be rubbing off on him.

Thinking this, he swoops down and presses his mortal lips to hers, simultaneously pinching her nose. Then, he breathes his air into her, and he pulls away to push down on her chest four times. He repeats this for a few times before she finally coughs out water.

He hugs her to his chest as she sobs, immensely relieved that she is alive. Her mind does not even register her saviour for the moment.

He does not mind. He only relishes her warmth in his embrace, knowing that he will never feel it again for a long,  _long_  time.

**VI.**

She does not remember his face, so she is not sure if someone had truly saved her. She is smiling now, because she feels as if she has been given a new lease in life.

Like someone from the heavens has given her a second chance to make things right and not give up like that ever again.

"Looks like you're not actually a true stickler for rules, captain," Rangiku muses, joining Toushirou as he watches Momo from afar.

He gives a tiny, genuine smile. "...Only when it comes to her."

* * *

_fin_

**Author's Note:**

> When you panic, you become so disorganized and rattled that all your sense of rationality and logic will fly away at the moment. It's a tested fact. XD  
> Also, this is slight AU because the shinigamis cannot touch humans in their soul form. ^^ I don't know if this is also the case in canon, but just to be safe.


End file.
